Talking LoTs
Advice for setting up your own lending library.
Hi, we're the LGS, we've had a great time setting up our LoT, this is information for people wanting to start their own.
CONTENT FROM THE CONFERENCE
Here are the things we talked about
Operational and IT Systems
THE BIG QUESTIONS
What's the heart of your project?
It’s easy to get carried away as a group with all the practicalities of setting up, and not digging in to the principals that you’re building it on - it’s an LoT!
What else is there? - but we think it’s an important step. At least one LoT went through a difficult split because there was a difference of philosophical approaches on the board. Clarifying these questions early on will help guide your decision-making later on.
Q1
What’s the difference you want to make by setting up an LoT?
Is your main goal sustainability (keeping things out of landfill, encouraging people to buy less), social inclusion (making things accessible to everyone, including excluded groups), community building (events, inter-group connections), or something else? When people talk about the change you’ve created in your community, what do you want them to say?
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Q2
Who are the people you want to serve?
Are you imagining a hyper-local LoT, for people who live within 10 minutes of your location? Or for everyone who can reach you? Is it important to you to include disadvantaged or isolated groups? If so, what measures are you up for taking to reach them? Who would you say ‘no’ to - people who live too far away? Who want to borrow for someone else to use? Or those who intend to use your things for their own business ventures?
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Q3
What items would you say no to?
Is your priority to provide the means to do practical tasks clean/ mend/ build, rather than socialise/ play/ entertain? Will you stock petrol-driven appliances? Items that arguably would keep people from buying their own, but create unrecyclable products, like laminators or balloon pumps? Are there manufacturers, retailers or countries you wouldn’t buy from, because of labour practices, environmental white-washing or political orientation?
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Q4
What role do you want to play in the local economic eco-system?
Do you want to compete with local businesses, or support them? Who would you partner with, and more importantly, who wouldn’t you partner with?
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Resources
Things you might find useful in setting up and running your LoT.
Why a LoT
Funding presentation
Volunteer Taster Session
Housekeeping
Privacy and T&Cs
Here's the ICO privacy policy template and our completed example.
Also here's our Terms and Conditions for borrowers.
Volunteer Agreement
Lending over time
Lend Engine
EDI Policy
Useful links
They collect things from corporate events and showcases, store it and try to find a good home for it. You can sign up for things you need, like shelving/ signage/ games etc.
Set up to help you find the financial support you might need if no one local with financial experience steps forward.
Another group set up to support charities with their finances.
A good place to start looking for grants, if you're incorporated as a charity.
The Environmental Funding Network. Basically a list maintained by this group, but good for looking through to find something in your area that matches your aims.
One of the very in-depth application processes, but we got a generous grant to help train up our managers and board members in important things.
They open applications once a year, in Autumn, and fund environmental projects across London and the South East. We are thrilled to have recently received a grant to level up our Big Fix repair events.
FEELING SOCIAL?